8 Essential Trends From Fashion Week’s Spring 2021 Season

From stylish sweatsuits to the sharp shoulders at Balmain and Balenciaga, these are the silhouettes to know for spring 2021.

Power Pants

Spending 8 hours a day on a Zoom call requires much more than just a fun top. A comfortable chair is a good place to start, but also necessary are easy-to-wear pants that allow for a wide range of motion. The oversize trousers at Louis Vuitton, The Row, and Stella McCartney are just the fix for a sedentary life—and an active one, too. With maximum swoosh factor, these pants pick up on fashion’s ’80s revival, guaranteeing that wherever you walk—around the neighborhood or simply from the table to the bedroom—you look dramatic and elegant.

Louis Vuitton

The Row

Stella McCartney

Chloé

Isabel Marant

Stylish Sweatsuits

At one of the season’s most anticipated debuts, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons spoke about creating a new uniform. Their sweatsuits, a marriage of Prada’s full-skirt silhouettes and Simons’s graphic tendencies, feel like the right style for our slouchy present. Balenciaga, Rodarte, and Collina Strada have playful takes on sweats too—though maybe only Matthew Williams’s Givenchy hoodie (the season’s other anticipated debut) qualifies as black tie.

Prada

Max Mara

Rodarte

Y/Project

Lutz Huelle

Everyday Exuberance

Fantastical fashion has returned to Earth with honest clothes that have a practical magic about them. Dries Van Noten and Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli, both masters of color and print, have long been advocates for eccentric everyday clothing; Molly Goddard, Christopher John Rogers, and Matty Bovan are getting on board too with printed denim, expressive knitwear, and over-the-top cotton tops. This spring, retire the medium wash jeans and beige for something a little more fun.

Dries Van Noten

Molly Goddard

Marni

Christopher John Rogers

Valentino

Second Skins

If the popularity of Marine Serre’s moon print base layers are any indication, those of us not wearing sweats are wearing stretchy second skins whether we’re curling up at home or layering for going out. Rick Owens and Thebe Magugu cut diaphanous knitwear that hugs the body, while Charlotte Knowles, Ottolinger, Supriya Lele, Nensi Dojaka, and LaQuan Smith all continued their experiments in mesh. Here they follow in the footsteps of fashion’s original upcycler, Xuly Bët’s Lamine Badian Kouyaté, who is famous for red-seamed stretch bodysuits.

Rick Owens

Thebe Magugu

Sportmax

Balmain

Chanel

Sharp Shoulders

Big time shoulders are not new, but they are not going away either. Balmain and Balenciaga showed the most dramatic versions, while Maison Margiela and Richard Malone offer softer takes on the silhouette that is perfect for cutting through the chaos of the world.

Balmain

Givenchy

Rick Owens

Richard Malone

Yohji Yamamoto

Serene Tunics

Long layers that drape on the body are the season’s predominant silhouette, seen at Fendi, Jil Sander, Thom Browne, and more. It makes sense: A draped tunic offers plenty of ease without sacrificing grace. Plus, matching sets like Marina Moscone’s cerulean top and trousers are much more comfortable alternative: a suit.

Fendi

Kenneth Ize

Mame Kurogouchi

Acne Studios

Maximilian

Dainty Day Dresses

These pouf-sleeved, slim dresses harken back to the no-nonsense glamour of the 1940s. There are true tea dresses from Rodarte, Coach, and Alessandra Rich, and more amusing propositions from Batsheva, the queen of quirky frocks. Consider them an at-home must for the pants-averse.

Rodarte

Alessandra Rich

Ulla Johnson

Rokh

Sandy Liang

Surface Interest

In addition to exuberant prints, this season has also ushered in expressive textures. The boldest, like Versace’s plissés or Coperni’s creases, might pop on Zoom, but the many crafty fabrics and techniques seen at Kenneth Ize, Kiko Kostadinov, and Nanushka are actually designed for the pleasure of the wearer, not the viewer. Doing something nice for oneself is the ultimate indulgence in #timeslikethese.